As the demand for integrated circuits having ever-small device features continues to increase, the need for improved illumination sources used for inspection of these ever-shrinking devices continues to grow. One such illumination source includes a laser-sustained plasma source. Laser-sustained plasma light sources are capable of producing high-power broadband light. Laser-sustained light sources operate by focusing laser radiation into a gas volume in order to excite the gas, such as argon or xenon, into a plasma state, which is capable of emitting light. This effect is typically referred to as “pumping” the plasma. Bulbs utilized in traditional plasma-based light sources are commonly made from fused silica glass. Fused silica glass generally absorbs light having wavelengths shorter than approximately 190 nm. This absorption of short-wavelength light causes rapid degradation of the optical transmission capabilities of the fused silica glass bulb in spectral ranges including 190-260 nm and leads to overheating and even explosion of the bulb, thereby limiting the usefulness of powerful laser sustained plasma sources in the range of 190-260 nm. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system and method for curing defects such as those of the identified above.